Vanity
by WildGypsyWoman12
Summary: Takes place right after the movie ends with Kendra coming into Robert's office. It's his turn to learn a lesson, or can he? Maybe a little help from someone from his past will help out with that.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Beastly story and possibly my first story that I will make in Chapters. **

Vanity.

That explained his personality to a "T". Vanity. A trait he had once passed down to his son. A trait he used every single day of the year. He was the head person at the local news station in New York City. If he was proud of one thing, other than himself, was the success of having a popular good looking son.

But that all changed when in a split second, his son was the most atrocious thing he could ever lay eyes on. He was not sure how it happened, but he was very doubtful it was because of some witch at Kyle's school. Even thinking it had to have been some sort of genetic malfunction that occurs on that woman he calls his mother's side of the family.

But all that was in the past. Kyle was back to "normal" and off somewhere with some girl, whom he claims to love. Zola and that, somehow, not blind anymore tutor decided to live in that apartment he bought across town for Kyle, with the intention that Kyle would not have to face any scrutiny at school. On top of that, Zola's children were going to be living there as well. Didn't matter, he had a new house keeper who was much better than that whiney woman anyway. She couldn't even do her job right.

But all this was about to change on the day he met his new intern, who apparently could work magic with anything thrown her way. As soon as she came through the elevator doors, Robert Kingsley just about had a heart attack. In walked a gothic blond with tattoos and high open toed heels with spikes on the straps.

"Hello. I'm Kendra, your new intern." She smiled sweetly. It took everything in Robert's power not to run to the bathroom to throw up.

"Hello, Ms. Hilferty. So you're interested in Journalism."

"To a certain extent." She replied, giving him a look that sent chills down his spine.

"Well, you can start by getting my coffee. I like it…"  
>"Black, so you don't have any calories to put on an ounce of weight."<p>

"Yes." He confirmed, very suspicious. As soon as she left, he got on the phone for someone to do a background check on his new intern. When he ended the call, he jumped in his seat at the sudden appearance of Kendra.

"Here's your coffee."

"Thank you." Without thinking, he asked, "How…How exactly did you receive this internship? I had specific expectations…"

"And I don't really fit in with them? Careful now, only fools mess with witches."

**What does everyone think? Should I continue or not?**

**5 reviews should help me make a decision. **


	2. Pushing Robert to his breaking point

**I feel like this is filler. I have no idea how long this story will be. updating cause I felt like I had enough reviews that said basically said, "GO FOR IT!"**

**I DON'T OWN BEASTLY! IT BELONGS TO ALEX FINN AND THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE MOVIE! THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION, AS PER WHAT THE SIGHT SAYS.  
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><p>Having Kendra as his intern was severely difficult for Robert. She represented everything he despised and found disgusting and revolting. He was beginning to become warn out trying to fight the urge to vomit every time he saw her. He just could not see past her gothic appearance, no matter how office appropriate it may be. Every day he kept wondering, <em>How much longer am I with this ugly tramp?<em>

However, the rest of the office and work place loved her. She was a hard worker, excelled in every task she was put to. On one particular day, Kendra was called into Robert's boss's office. They talked a good solid hour and then left together for lunch. Robert decided to do a little more digging on her and found out that she went to the same school as Kyle, his son.

His son. _Hmmm. I wonder how he's doing? Haven't heard from him in months, least not after he told me he was going to travel the world with some girl. What was her name? Aw hell, not worth my time anyway. Right now it's "get Kendra out of my life"._

By the time he was back to his original plan, Kendra and his boss had returned.

"Robert."  
>"Yes, sir?"<p>

"Please prep Ms. Hilferty on the dos and don'ts of speaking on a camera."

"Sir?"

"She is going to be doing a special assignment for us and since you are our star reporter, I thought you could give the lovely lady some tips."

_Lovely lady? What is he, blind?_ "I actually have a lot on my plate right now sir."

"Oh, I'm sure you can _make _time." His boss told him with a smile.

"Yes sir." He replied in disgust.

When he was out of sight, Kendra turned around to look at him, much to his displeasure. "I thought of a news report this station could to do boost its viewers. It's on how parents dealing with kids who would not be considered normal."

"Really?" he said, feigning interest.

"Oh yes. I think you might be particularly interested, given what happened with you and your son."

"Kyle? What do you know about that, you…."

"Careful. You might say something you'll regret, like Kyle did. I know how you think of me and how you are disgusted by the look of me. But I guess you'll have to deal with it." She said, walking away. Robert stormed into his boss's office.

"Are you kidding me? How can you do this to the station?"

"Robert, please."

"No. People don't want to see people like her on camera. They want to see people like me. People who are good looking. Not people who look like they're going to murder you in your sleep."

"Robert, she's a good worker, and you yourself have to admit she did very well with her assignment. Anyone who can do that good of a job and look as modest as she does for what you call a 'goth', deserves a spot on our staff."

"She's an ugly cow!"

"Robert, this may have been the mindset of your previous boss, but this is not my mindset. Now please leave."

Robert left in a huff. _Why can't he see what I see? Well, if he can't see what I see, then I'm going to have to some way show him._

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><p><em><em>**Ok don't expect another update so soon. I'm really swamped with things right now and this was something I kind of felt like writing. So that leaves things up for debate.**

**This part I am particularly stuck on. So, question: What are some ideas y'all might like to happen given what you've read so far, in regarding how Kendra turns robert into his ugly being? I'd love to hear them and might even incorporate some of them, as well as give you credit of course.  
><strong>


	3. DUN DUN DUN!

**HELLO MY FELLOW READERS! Sorry it took me so long to update. As some of you know I just started a new story, and well, frankly I was having slight writers block with this one. But after watching BEASTLY last night and looking at this story again, I had an idea that I felt was better than what I was originally going to do.**

**So here it is: ROBERT'S DOOM!  
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><p>The night Robert had dreaded had come. He was going to introduce Kendra's news stories. As he thought of it, he pour himself a glass of whiskey, and then another and another. But nothing could take away the thought of having her give a newscast his station.<p>

"1 minute til your on the air, Mr. Kingsbury" The Stage hand called.

Robert stumbled to his chair. Everyone clearly seeing that he was drunk, but enough of them hated him to where they were looking forward to him making a fool out of himself. Of course his co-anchor for the night smelled that he reeked of alcohol and had to keep a straight face despite of it. After about 10 minutes, she introduced Kendra's piece.

"Beauty. One thing this world is completely obsessed with. People see that someone is completely different in anyway, and they are repulsed by the very sight of them. Even children who have no control over how they are made fall victims of this atrocity. Over the past week, I have spoken to many families about their children who are viewed as ugly to the world. This is what they had to say:

_ "Ugly? Why would I think such a precious thing as this ugly. She's my miracle baby." _

_"Fat? No, she's an angel. I mean how can one hate a person with a personality like hers?" _

_"Yes, my daughter became victim to becoming beautiful in the eyes of her peers. She almost died from it too. She just got out of rehab and has found a nice guy in her life that loves her for who she is." _

_"What do I think qualifies as beautiful? Anything that shows a person is human and not some self centered jerk. I knew a guy like that, but he came around."_ The last girl said, with her guy right next to her, his arm around her waist. "_And now he and I are going to be spending the rest of our lives together, thanks to some weird twist of fate that if I were to tell you, you would think I was crazy….What would happen if our child was deformed at any course in its life?"_

That's when her fiancé answered. "_We'd love it just the same as we did when it was born." _

And that is when Robert lost it. The man in the last clip was his son, Kyle.

"I have shown you several perspectives. If these people can look beyond any appearance, don't you think you can too? I'm Kendra Hilferty, reporting for KMOP news."

"Thank you Kendra and those families who willingly participated; and a special congratulation to the new couple on their engagement. Don't you agree Robert?"

"Agree? You people are idiots! Beautiful people have it better, that's just the way it is. You think your ugly as sin child will get a job, especially when dealing with the public? NO! People don't want to see their ugly fucking faces. They disgust people to the point where they want to throw up. My opinion is to use as much money as you can to fix them. Cause God certainly won't."

Before he could say anymore, they went to commercial. The boss came to Robert and demanded him come to his office immediately.

"What the hell was that?"

"Bull-shit; that's what! I can't believe you agreed to that."

"Robert your behavior since Ms. Hilferty came has been completely unacceptable. I'm afraid you're fired."

"Fired? You're firing me after what the bitch did? She planned this. Hell, my own son was in that news cast!"

"I don't care. Robert, you're finished here. Pack your things and leave before I have security thrown out."

Of course it took security to throw him out and hail him a cab, since he was still very drunk. Upon entering his house he threw his phone at the wall.

"Stupid bitch getting me fired. It's her fault."

"The only person at fault here is you, Robert." A voice said from behind him. Robert jerked around and saw Kendra standing there in a completely different outfit than when he left her with.

"How the fuck….."

"That is the least of your worries."

"You used my son on purpose you bitch. You used our situation and made it into a story."

"I had hoped you would see the errors of your ways, especially when it came to Kyle. I take it you didn't realize his curse was broken." And the look on his face confirmed her statement.

"He managed to find love and turn around in one year. But given your display since I have interned with you, I'd say you will get a slightly longer sentence. Say… 3 years?"

"What?" Gripping his wrist, she ignored his "Let go of me you cow" and proceeded with her curse. "You have 3 years to find someone to love you." A tree grew upon Robert's wrist and spread up his arm. "When the flowers of the tree bloom, your time is up. Either the words I love you are spoken, or stay like this forever." She said, disappearing.

"Like what?" Robert asked. Turning towards the mirror, he cried out in agony. His skin was damaged, as if someone had set him on fire. His index and middle fingers were gone. His hair was missing and in place of that were puckering scars. He no longer had sight in his right eye and he walked with a limp. "

You bitch, you come back here and change me back." He screamed, in a voice that was not all his own. He felt very dizzy and promptly fell to the floor.

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><p><strong>Ok. You know the drill. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Tell me what you think? PLEASE!<strong>


	4. Two years and 6 months later

**HEY GREETINGS FROM BERLIN GERMANY! BEEN A LONG TIME BUT I HAD A STROKE OF LUCK AND HAVE 2 CHAPTERS UP FOR YOU GUYS! **

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><p><em>Two years and 6 months later….<em>

Things had not been easy for Robert. After he was fired, no one seemed to hear from him again. His bills piled up and much of his possessions were repossessed. His place was abandoned and eventually sold to another buyer. Only Kendra knew where Robert was, every day. He wandered around the streets, staying in homeless shelters, never giving his real name. To the world, he was a nobody, who yelled at nothing screaming for the torture to end. He was the stereotypical homeless person and he hated it with a passion.

Every once in a while he would make snide comments and that would get him a beating from the others, even with the cops watching. And he let them, even if he was getting beat for no particular reason by some high school boys who were drunk. Every once in a while a kind person would help him out and take him to the hospital if his injuries were severe enough.

But one particular time was different. A woman called out for the men to stop.

"Hey! Get away from him!"

"Shit! Run guys!"

The next thing Robert knew was that he was face to face with his future daughter in law.

"Are you ok?'

"Fine."

"The cut on your head says otherwise."

"Why are you helping me?"

"My dad was like you once. I knew a lot of people like you. It's no problem. Believe me when I say this, I've seen worse."

_I bet you have_. He thought. He allowed her to help him up and take her back to the place where she and Kyle were staying. Along the way there, they ran into one of the most beautiful women Robert had laid eyes on in years.

"Valerie. How are you?"

"Hey, Lindy."

"Did you sell any paintings today?"

"Yes. Five of them. Even three self portraits."

"That's great." Suddenly Lindy's phone rang. After hanging up, she looked earnestly at Valerie.

"Hey, something came up. Would you mind taking care of him for me? He has some nasty injuries."

"Of course. I was walking to the store to grab some food. I can bring him along."

"Thanks. I owe you."

Valerie smiled. She looked at Robert and took him by the arm. "Lindy was right. You do look like you've had a bit of a run through. Don't worry. I'll take care of you."

They went to the store. Robert received many looks of disgust, but he learned to ignore them. He tried talking to her a few times, but she seemed to ignore him. Guess he deserved all he was getting after what he'd dished out all his life. She took him to her place. If he didn't know she was an artist, he certainly did by the time he stepped foot into her apartment. Paintings everywhere, along with unfinished canvases. Given the way she dressed you would've immediately thought she was nothing like this.

"Sorry about the mess. I don't normally have people come over. Well, except for Lindy and Kyle. Oh, I forgot Will and Magda and her children too. Magda brings me food in exchange for teaching her kids art. Such nice boys, but a bit rambunctious at times if you ask me." She smiled as she tried to clear a place for Robert to sit.

"So, Mr. Stranger. Do you have a name?" This shocked Robert. In the past two years no one had dared to ask him for his name. _Do I tell her who I really am or make up somebody? Hmm, I wonder what Kyle did._

"Robert."

"Pleased to meet you Robert. I'm Valerie. Valerie St. James."

_Valerie St. James. Where have I heard that name before?_ Robert wondered.

"How long have you been here in this place?" Robert asked. Again he fell upon deaf ears. This was starting to annoy Robert a great deal.

"Hey, when someone asks you a question, you should…." But he was met with a huge scream. Someone banged on the door.

"Val! Val try your best to answer me!" It was Kyle. But all he received was unintelligible screams. Robert saw a window with a fire escape and went for it, determined to get out of there, before someone thought he harmed this woman.

"Val, open this door!" But no answer still befell Robert's son. As soon as he was out the window he heard the door bust open. Robert ran as fast as his leg would carry him. He couldn't go back there. For some reason he felt guilt come upon him. Guilt for causing that woman to scream like she did; guilt for being so ugly that at first glance someone would think he had done something horrible to her. Distracted, he did not see where he was going and accidentally feel into the river. He called out for help, but he could barely shout. Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands grab him and try to swim to the short. Eventually they were pulled to shore by something and that was the last thing Robert knew.

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><p><strong>HOPE Y'ALL LIKE THIS! <strong>


	5. Valerie

**SECOND CHAPTER! WHOO! **

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><p>When he awoke, he was back at Valerie's apartment. <em>How did I get here?<em> Robert wondered. He heard a noise and jumped at the sound. In came Valerie.

"Oh good. You're awake. I was worried."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I was making dinner. Kyle came in, told me I was having a screaming fit and I couldn't find you. I saw the window open and figured I scared you off. I followed as best I could. I was almost caught up to you when you feel into the river. How did you not see it?"

"I'm blind in one eye."  
>"Oh. That explains it. I'm sorry if I scared you off. Why did you run?"<p>

"I was tired of asking you questions, came up to you and then you started screaming. Doesn't take a genius to figure out who's going to get blamed for something he didn't do, based upon his looks."

"Oh." Val looked like she was in thought.

"Something wrong?"

"I'm sorry for causing you that. All of it. I guess I should've explained. I'm going deaf."

"What do you mean you're going deaf?"

"It's not an easy thing to talk about." Valerie began. "Come on Val. The therapist said the more you talk about it, the more it gets easier to talk about and admit." She said in a low whisper.

"Talk about what?"

"My husband. He's the reason for my hearing loss."

"What?" Robert couldn't believe his ears.

"I never loved him. My family forced me to marry him."

"Why?"

"That's how rich people are. They marry to please their parents, to people whom they do not love. I wanted to marry someone else. Unfortunately when I left my husband, I couldn't find him. I thought he would wait for me, but I guess he had to face reality as well."

"Explain why he's the cause of your hearing loss." Robert said, wanting to kill this monster.

"I was never good at the homemaker stuff. I tried my hardest. He would come home drunk from work and expect dinner to be ready for him. I would never do it right and he would beat my head. Claimed it was to knock some sense into me. Eventually I ordered out and had it brought over. When he found that out, he began beating me again for wasting our money. I tried telling my mother about it, but….but she said it was my fault." She told him, trying to keep herself together.

"What?" Robert exclaimed.

"I managed to cover up all of the injuries pretty well. Being an artist, it was easy to do. One day, I found out I was pregnant. I thought he would let up, but he didn't and we lost the baby. Once again….he…he blamed me." She said, no longer able to hold it in. Robert moved as best he could to comfort her.

"I never had the courage to leave him. But I had had enough. So I left, even with the treat of never seeing any of my family again. A woman found me on the streets and took me to a woman's shelter. There I saw Lindy and Kyle and the rest I guess is history."

"So you began to scream because you thought he had found you and snuck up behind you to give you another beating for leaving him?"

Valerie shook her head. "My mind was somewhere else. I actually thought I was back in my old life. Kyle had to snap me back into it."

"He's a great kid, isn't he?"

"Do you know him?"

"No. I mean he sounds like a great kid."

"Yeah. Doesn't talk about his family much."

_Yeah. There might be a reason for that. _Robert thought, now understanding why his son didn't want anything to do with him after transforming back to what he considered "normal".

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><p><strong>UNFORTUNATELY THAT'S WHERE MY INSPIRATION ENDS FOR NOW. SO WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK OF VALERIE? IS SHE TO STEREOTYPICAL OR IS SHE A GOOD ORIGINAL CHARACTER FOR ROBERT? I MUST ADMIT IT TOOK ME A LOT TO THINK OF HER DUE TO MY DISLIKE OF ROBERT.<strong>


	6. Mirror Mirror on the Bathroom Wall

**Wow. Having this be my first unfinished before I post it story I'm beginning to connect with the people who don't post for like forever. Well here are MY excuses. Had a case of writer's block. Found something that I REALLY LIKED, but I wanted to make it longer. However, when I came back to it, my flash drive it was on decided to.. well DIE! Lost a lot of my stuff on there, stories and other forms of art, as well as papers and research that meant something to me. **

**But lucky for me, I had this posted here and another copy, though the new part that was SO SO GOOD was lost. My muse was really shining through in that, but it's gone and so is my muse. Though the ideas are still there, they just aren't as good to me as the first version.  
><strong>

**But after about 2 1/2 months of waiting, here's the next installment.  
><strong>

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><p><em>Few weeks later…..<em>

Robert had grown accustomed to living with Valerie. Every once in a while she would freak out, but they steadily began to work on it. In the short time since they'd met, he felt less repulsed by his ugliness and was beginning to understand what that girl Lindy had seen in his son, though part of him still wondered if they'd met after the curse was lifted and Kyle had found a way, but never told him out of spite.

One particular morning, while washing his face in the mirror, something he was beginning to grow accustomed to again, Robert received an unexpected visitor in the mirror.

_Hello Robert. I see you're doing well for yourself. Much better than wallowing in pity on the streets. _

"What do you want?" He sneered, glaring at her.

"_I see hatred is still there. Of course, people don't like it when they are told the truth about something, especially when it's themselves."_

"What do you want?" He almost yelled, still glaring at the image of Kendra.

"_I thought I'd let you know that there is still plenty of time for Valerie to say 'I love you'." _

"How do you know about her?"

"_She certainly is a wonderful woman, as you are finding out." _Kendra paused for a second of realization. "_Does she even know who you really are? The truth will come out soon enough Robert, whether you tell her or not. Careful now."_

"Are you threatening me?"

"_No, just a warning."_ Robert's attention was broken away from the mirror for a second with a knock on the door. Valerie was already getting it so he turned his head back to the mirror, only to find her gone.

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><p><strong>Hope you guys liked it. I'll try to work on the next chapter, which will be good I promise. Maybe not going further in the plot, but it was a great idea. Now to attempt to recreate the awesomeness I lost. It was originally going to be apart of this chapter, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer than you had. <strong>

**WildGypsyWoman12  
><strong>


	7. Family Feud

**Ok! Well, like I said in the last chapter this is something that had to be rethought of because of a malfunctioned flash drive. Still don't feel like it's as good as the first one, but it's not bad. ENJOY!**

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><p>"Sissy! How are you?" Said a cheerful voice. Robert noticed the hint of artificial sweetness that just made him want to vomit.<p>

"What are you doing here?"

"Why I came to see you of course. We _are_ sisters. I'm family. So what else would I be doing here? I've missed you so much." She said, walking into Valerie's apartment uninvited.

"I never said you could come in."

"It's…quite a little place you've got… here." Val's sister commented on, though you could tell she was not real enthused.

"I like it."

"Oh come now Valerie, you can't truly mean that."

"Yes, I truly do. Now cut the bullshit Jocelyn and tell me the real reason to why after all these years, you decide to pay me a visit."

"Because I missed you."  
>"Oh please. You could've contacted me anytime, via phone or email."<p>

"Well, I realized just how much I missed you the other day so I thought I'd stop by and see…my sister."

"Go ahead. Say it. Or are you like mom and dad? Still trying to pretend I'm an insolent member of the family who makes up lies, even though the proof was there in the many medical exams I took?"

Jocelyn began to speak but Valerie interrupted her. "I grew up with you Joce, I know your tricks; so stop the acting and tell me or I'm going to throw you out."

"Well, Mommy and Daddy have agreed to let you come back home _and_ be written back into the will."

"Under what terms?"

"No terms."

"_Jocelyn!_" Valerie warned.

"Ok. You get back together with Warren and sign an agreement that he never did the things you said. He's even consented to letting you have a housekeeper that does the cooking and cleaning."

"Forget it!" This time Robert thought he'd make his presence known.

"Everything ok Valerie?" He could see the disgust in Jocelyn's facial expression but ignored it.

"We can get you fixed. Hearing aid transplants. You'll be able to hear again." Jocelyn attempted to whisper. "You'll be back in your old life with your old friends; away from people…like him."

"You wanna know something, Joce? Warren beating me was the best thing that ever happened to me. It opened my eyes to everything Slick told me about you guys. Things I just knew couldn't be true. And if by going deaf is what comes of this? Then so be it!

"So you're saying you'd rather live among the poor and disgusting than come back to easy life?" Her eyes were aimed at Robert.

"He's got more beauty than you'll ever understand. He's even more beautiful than you!" Valerie shouted. And with that Jocelyn huffed and slammed the door behind her. Valerie turned around to look at Robert.

"Sorry about that."

"Nah. It's alright. Listen, Val. There's something I need to tell you; something I feel you should know."

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><p><strong>Ooooh! Robert is going to tell her something! Pretty straight forward. I have so many ideas of where I could take this. Kind of liking this one idea right now. BUT I can assure you Robert is NOT Slick. <strong>

**So please REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Please? Believe it or not they do help. **


	8. Diving deeper into the Past

**Ok. I know I had told you guys I was deleting this, but I had a sudden inspiration as soon as I posted that. SO...This story is not going to be deleted. Keep in mind I know that in the movie Kendra said magic can't be undone, but with my new idea, I'm going to tweak how the curse can be broken, despite what she said. And that is the only spoiler I will give. **

**Thank you all who are still following me. it's been over 5 months and all I can say is stuff came up and like my post before that this chapter is replacing, I had a severe case of writer's block. **

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><p>Robert thought for a second. It was probably best he didn't tell her. He wasn't that man anymore, thanks to her and thanks to Kendra, though he really didn't want to admit it just yet.<p>

"Actually, it's nothing. So tell me more about 'Slick'."

"We met when I volunteered at the Animal Shelter when I was 13. My parents wouldn't allow me to have a dog, despite my mother carrying around a Pomeranian everywhere with her in her arms. I tried playing with it once when I was younger; but mother scolded me so much, I was afraid to go near the poor thing. Anyway, we immediately bonded over our love for dogs which led to me meeting him after school and walking in the park. He also helped out with my homework. I struggled in school, much to my parents' dismay, and so they allowed him into the house on the condition he was helping me with something school related."

"So, I take it Slick didn't like your family."

"No not really. He was middle class, which my parents saw as low class, despite the fact he always looked slick in whatever he dressed in, hence his nickname. Anyway, around the time he turned 15, he became blind. Though that didn't stop him from helping me with my homework, but eventually we started meeting at the Library because he made claims that my family would intentionally trip him and he couldn't handle being in that house. My tutoring became the only time I ever saw him. Mother had me go through Cotillion, which took up a good portion of my time and I could no longer volunteer at the shelter, much to my dismay. The sacrifices a child makes to please their parents." She laughed a little. "Despite it all, Slick treated me differently, and I really liked it. Before he lost his sight, he told me I was a great artist. When he lost his sight, I took on a new form: sculpting, so he could see what I created. I mean, it hard to see a painting if you're blind and I wanted him to continue seeing my work. Safe to say I fell in love with him. He even convinced me to apply to art schools. But mother found out and she scolded me for pursuing a useless craft. She said girls like me are to marry rich, do housework and produce children. Thinking about now I find it funny as she never lifted a finger in her life. Neither has my sister."

"Very odd. I remember you saying your parents forced you to marry, what's his name, Warren?"

"Yes. And by 'force' I mean the parents spring it upon you that you're engaged to another man twice your age."

"Who does that anymore?"

"Apparently my family. Warren wanted a wife to wait on him hand and foot along with providing him sons, and in return, he'd provide me with the life I've always had: a life with money. Guess he didn't count on my mother lying about teaching me common house hold chores."

"How did Slick take the idea of your marriage?"

"He hated it and tried to talk me out of it, saying it was wrong. He also had heard not so good things about Warren. But I didn't listen."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because mother had pushed her ideals into my head. I had become her puppet. I just didn't see at the time until shortly before I divorced Warren. As you well know when I divorced Warren, my parents disowned me, blaming me for the problems. Joce and I were once close, but she refused to acknowledge my existence when the divorce was final." Valerie looked at Robert. "I have 4 nieces that I have never met and it makes me sad a little."

"I can only imagine. So, did you ever find slick?"

"I tried finding him, but his grandmother told me he had received a job offer in Brooklyn and hadn't seen him since She let me live with her though for a short while until I was able to afford my own apartment; such a nice lady. I credit her for helping me get back into my art. She kept a lot of my original pieces and told me I should start it again. It could help the healing process. So here I am, an artist for hire."

Robert wasn't really paying attention to that last bit of information. He realized now he knew Slick, but again, still felt ashamed to tell Valerie about his past so he said nothing about it.

"Do you still love him? I mean even though you haven't seen him in years." Valerie nodded, and Robert thought for a second. "Listen, I have to leave for a few days. There's something I have to do."

"Oh ok. I'll still be here when you get back." She halfheartedly joked. But what she didn't know is Robert wasn't planning on coming back. Whether or not the curse was broken, he still wanted to see her happy. Then he'd leave and make a new life for himself, after all no one really recognized him.

He went to ATM. He may have changed, but his bank account was still active, despite the fact he had not had a reason to use it in years. He pulled enough money out to do what he needed to do. It wouldn't really look suspicious, even though he hadn't touched his account in months due to lack of job and the fact he knew he couldn't get another one because of his form.

Robert bought some paper and a writing utensil and, as best he could due to his lack of fingers and his use of only one eye, wrote out a message for Slick.

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><p><strong>Threw in a shocker didn't I? Well, that was part of my inspiration. Again, thanks to all how are still following me. I appreciate it a great deal. And I promise to not have you wait as long for the next chapter. <strong>

**Yours Truly,**

**WildGypsyWoman12**


	9. Slick Revealed :)

**HELLO! Sorry for the late update, but at least it's not been 6 months! :) Lot's been going on with me and so some things have been pushed aside and so things like this have. I promise that though I'm still dealing with stuff (not all of it bad), I will be finished with this story soon. **

**So I bring to you the most obvious person that I could pair Val with. **

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><p>Walking in a neighborhood that most would be afraid to be in, a blond haired man, dressed in business like attire walked comfortably in the middle of the night, having just left the subway, on his way back to the place he calls his home. As a top ranking college professor of English at Columbia College in Manhattan, you would think he could afford a better apartment. But he liked the neighborhood. He'd grown up there as a child and it allowed him to take care of his grandmother, though she insisted she could do things herself.<p>

He didn't mind of course. Ever since he met a student who later became one of his good friends, his life had been anything but ordinary. He had lost his sight at the age of 15 and suddenly, for the first time in 15 years, he could see everything again. While not sure how long it would last, he promised himself he would not take advantage of the gift bestowed upon him. He had lived with his new friends for a while, but realized he needed his own place. The house they all shared was good for a while, but eventually it fit a woman with her 5 children better than a single man and his two very good friends, who became a couple in no time. The house was great for the woman and the 5 children, but eventually the others needed their space. His two friends went off on a trip around the world for a few months, while he started his new job at the college. They had offered him the chance to join them; but he thought after all they'd been through, they'd like some time to get to know each other better. He didn't mind. He more than anything wanted to see the New York his sight had shielded from him for the past 15 years. Some of it saddened him, but despite everything, he felt good that not everything had changed and some of the familiarities of his surroundings were the same.

As he walked he came across the animal shelter he had volunteered at for most of his high school career. It brought back memories of a certain girl he used to know and had fallen for. Her parents didn't seem to like the fact she had made friends with him, but as long as he helped her with her homework, they allowed their friendship to continue. He saw things in her that she herself could not see because of her close minded parents. The things he really enjoyed enjoying and he had fallen for her, especially after she didn't desert him like some of his other friends after his blindness took full effect. For this reason, he tried to encourage her to be the person he saw and to pursue her dreams. Unfortunately, she could not see what he saw, even if he did not have the eyes to. While he tried not to think of the girl he found the task impossible. Before when he was tutoring the kid who had called himself "ugly", it reminded him of when he tutored her, though she was not as stubborn as his former student, now friend. But his thoughts gravitated toward her a little more lately and he knew exactly when it had started.

When he first visited his grandmother upon the return of his sight, he couldn't help be overjoyed in seeing her again and she herself was overjoyed with the miracle upon her grandson. So he moved closer to her, given he could take care of himself without anyone worrying about him. One day he happened upon a piece of artwork that looked familiar to him. But when he checked the date, it happened to be from the current year. Then one night his grandmother caught him looking at the sculptures the window. Without saying a word, he mindlessly rose from the table and took one of them in his hand, feeling it, while his grandmother sat and watched her grandson, smiling a little. Will eventually closed his eyes and carefully moved his hands over the sculpture, gasping at its familiarity. "Val." He whispered.

Since then, he'd been searching for her now and then. His grandmother had said the sculptures were left from when she stayed with her, about a few weeks after he had left for his live in tutoring job. After a couple months, she found her own place and was able to make a living.

"She visits at least once a week, but I never know when. She doesn't own a phone and you know I'm not very good with that electronic mail everyone is using nowadays." She had told him.

He sighed, thinking of that night. He looked around in the phone books, but she wasn't listed. Not with her maiden name, nor her married name. But then again, if she didn't have a phone, it'd be impossible. Even Facebook proved to be of no use. He only had the assurance of his grandmother and a new painting of hers as proof she still lived in the area.

As he unlocked his door and threw the mail onto the kitchen table, he noticed a piece of mail that caught his eye; a regular sized envelope with just his name and address on it; no return address. He carefully picked it up and opened it to reveal a strange message.

"_**She's at the address below and she loves you.**_"

He looked at the address below. He recognized it as being in the same building as his friends' new apartment. Immediately he dialed a number on his phone.

_"Hey Will. What's up?"_

"Do you or Kyle know a woman named Valerie St. James?"

_"Yeah. She lives right across the hallway from us."_

"She lives in your apartment area?" He asked, his heart racing in excitement.

_"Well yeah. Wait, Will how do you know Val?"_

_"He knows Val?" _ He heard Kyle in the background ask. But before he could get on the phone to ask Will about it, Will had hung up the phone and raced out the door.

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><p><strong>Next chapter is in the works. If I continue with it, I can have it ready for you very soon. Hope you are still enjoying it and thanks to those of you who stuck with this story. <strong>


	10. The future looks very bright ahead

**Well, this went quicker than I expected. This and the next one might be shorter than I have been writing in the past, but that's just where my muse is taking me at the moment. **

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><p>Valerie sat on the pillow of her art stool, painting her latest work of art; a portrait of the man she had come to call her friend. She looked at him lovingly, wondering how she had become so lucky to have such great, caring friends. She only wished she'd realized she could be this happy away from her family sooner. Just then the lights flickered; alerting her someone was currently knocking on her door. Every time this occurred, she thanked God for giving her to such a kind and understanding landlord. She peered in the eyehole of her door; making sure her family didn't surprise visit her again. But upon seeing a tall, blond haired man in a brown suit looking Jacket, with a blue plaid looking shirt with blue jeans, she gasped.<p>

"Valerlie? Are you in there?" He asked. Though her hearing was steadily fading, she would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Will?" She asked, opening her door. "Is it really you?"

Will nodded and stared at her for what seemed like hours before closing the distance; kissing her squarely on the lips like he had wanted to his whole life.

In the background, Kyle and Lindy watched and high fived each other; while in the shadows of the stairs, Robert watched on, smiling. Kyle's head moved toward the direction his father stood and nodded toward the man, a smile on his face, as if to say "good job dad. I'm proud of you."

And with that Robert walked out of the building not noticing he no longer walked with a limp, he flet confident that at some point he could contact his son and they could begin to mend their relationship. As he walked the streets that had become his home, a familiar blonde haired woman dressed in black clothing with high heels and tattoos on her face walked in his direction. She stopped in front of him and he recognized her the moment he had laid eyes on her: Kendra.

"Congratulations, Robert."

"What do you mean?"

Kendra produced a mirror from her purse and held it out before Robert. It was then that Robert saw that his good looks had returned to him, except he still remained blind in his one eye. But he didn't mind.

"How?" He asked. "She was in love with someone else."

"I said you much find someone to love you. Now, part of that was that she had to say the words, but there are many loopholes in the spell. Val is working on a very particular piece you should look at someday."

"But you said, someone had to say I love you."

"She did, in a way. Take a look at it sometime. Love comes from many places. Magic willingly relented"

"And the eye?"

"Magic's way to remind you of your experience. Kyle has a small tattoo left on his hand, mainly because he was late. But it helps remind him of his experience." She smiled. "See you around, Robert." She said, as she walked away, leaving him with a smile on his face.

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><p><strong>AN: I had always intended to have Val and Will be the end of the story and do the whole loophole thing. Now as you may have noticed, this story is not complete yet. I have one more chapter I have cooking up in my head. Can't promise when I'll get to it, so until then! :)**


	11. Epilogue

**Ok. I promised another chapter a LONG time ago, but after that promise, I thought it was done. However, that promise still entered my mind and I did have one version of this written up, but it was written so fast, I felt that it was just crap. Many versions have come and gone from this, mostly began to write them and then my computer would shut down and I'd loose the muse. **

**But here's an epilogue for you! Hope you like it**

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><p><em>Years later…..<em>

Pushing through the crowded walkway of the street market, a tall, dark haired man made his way to his destination. He checked his watch again, feeling bad that he was roughly 10 minutes late, but he knew he would be forgiven. When he reached the end of the market, a small blond haired girl ran into him, nearly knocking him on the ground. He picked her up every single day from daycare so her parents could have a few hours alone when they returned home from work. Her mother worked as an English teacher and her father worked as a school principal at their old high school. The daycare was run outside of a small old building that was on the other end of a market in downtown Brooklyn. Unfortunately for him, there was only one way to get to it; and he always forgot how long it took to get through the crowd.

"Grandpa!"

"Hey, tiger. Sorry I'm late."

"Do we still have time to see the elephants? Daddy said we were going there after daycare."

The man shook his head with a smile, knowing full well his son had never said anything. But like the typical grandparent, he loved to spoil his grandchild.

"Yes, we have plenty of time to go see the elephants, and any other animals you want to see."

"Yippee!"

The man looked up and saw his granddaughter's teacher come forward; short, redheaded woman with pale skin and deep green eyes, with a baby bump that became more noticeable every day. Flesh colored hearing aids could be seen from both her ears.

"Sorry about being late. How was she today?" He asked with his hands.

" It's ok. I enjoy having her. And you should know she has quite the artistic talent."

"Not sure what side she gets it from." He replied with a smile. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Robert." She smiled, pleased to be able to not use her hearing aids. While they were helpful with most of the parents, she preferred to sign.

"Come on, Jaynie. Let's go see the elephants." He said, picking her up and setting her on his shoulders. As they left the room, Jaynie pointed to a picture hanging on the wall.

"Mrs. Fratalli hanged that today. He's scary, but she told us he was a nice man and was her bestest friend."

Robert stared at the portrait for a few minutes, studying it, before turning back to Valerie to give her a smile. There were no words, but he hoped he conveyed his opinion of the portrait to her. Apparently she caught the silent comment, because a smile fell across her face and she nodded an unspoken, "you're welcome", as Jaynie whined that they were missing the elephants, prompting him to head out the door.

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><p><strong>I borrowed from the book a little with this. I remember Lindy and Kyle and a connection to Jane Eyre so I thought it was appropriate to name her Jaynie. And because of Lindy's love of books I remember from the actual book, I thought her being an English teacher was pretty sound, as well as having Kyle become a principal. Let's face it, I didn't know what else he'd do; certainly NOT journalism. And I severely apologize for not having a description of Valerie until now. Man, I suck big time for that. Please forgive me.<strong>

**Love to all of you guys!**

**WildGypsyWoman12 **


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